Saturday 16 June 2012

Activists: Mink farming rules need teeth


 BY GORDON DELANEY VALLEY BUREAU
Better waterway protection urged
BROOKLYN — The province’s new draft regulations governing mink farming are not nearly strong enough, says the Ecology Action Centre.
“The regulations are lacking in many areas,” Jocelyne Rankin, the centre’s water co-ordinator, said Friday.
“We don’t think they will be sufficient to prevent the kind of severe impact that we’ve seen on waterways in other parts of the province, like the Meteghan and Tusket rivers.”
The province has been drafting new regulations for the industry since approving the Fur Industry Act in 2010. They are expected to be approved this summer.
The mink industry is growing fast in western Nova Scotia. Most of the nearly 100 farms are located in Digby County, with a handful in neighbouring Annapolis County. But this month alone, Annapolis County has received 40 applications for building permits for new farms or expansions to existing ones.
Dan Mullen, president of the Nova Scotia Mink Breeders Association, said he sees the county as an ideal place for the industry to grow because of the high concentration of unused farmland.
He said the industry has become an important generator of wealth for farmers and the province, which exported 1.4 million mink pelts worth $120 million last year. It now makes up 33 per cent of the province’s agricultural exports.
The Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture also sees mink farming as a boon to the industry and believes the draft regulations are sufficient to protect the environment, said president Beth Densmore.
But Rankin said the regulations need to be strengthened.
“We want to see a tightening up and more protection for waterways, groundwater and rivers. We are concerned that there is no requirement for groundwater monitoring. We don’t think land application of manure from the fur farms is an acceptable means of disposal.”
The centre also wants closed containment systems for manure and waste water and “assurances that surface water will not be mixed with any waste from the farms,” she said.
Vimy Glass, legislation co-ordinator with the Department of Agriculture, said the regulations make it mandatory for every farm to have a surface water quality monitoring program in place.
“Farms close to any water course are also required to monitor upstream and downstream to ensure there is no impact from the farm.”
Any tests that show levels above the acceptable standards will trigger an investigation, with fines for violations up to $1,000 per day. The regulations also place the burden on the industry to develop waste management plans, which must be endorsed by professional engineers, she said.
In addition, the regulations say liquid manure systems must be contained, manure storage sites have to be 100 metres from waterways and off-farm dwellings and the disposal of manure, waste, feed and carcasses must be addressed before a fur farm licence is issued.
Colleen McGill of Brooklyn, lives close to where a mink farm is being proposed. Like many of her neighbours she worries that manure from mink operations being spread on farmland could contaminate the Annapolis River. She and her neighbours also fear smells, flies and decreased property values.
“We’re certainly not animal activists and we understand the economic value of the fur industry in the province,” she said. “I’d rather protect what we have than have it turn out like it did in Yarmouth and Digby counties.”
A study by the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research earlier this year identified mink farms as the most likely source of water quality problems in nine lakes in western Nova Scotia, particularly the Carleton, Meteghan and Sissiboo watersheds in Digby and Yarmouth counties.
Annapolis County council has been struggling with the issue since residents in Tupperville and Brooklyn presented a petition asking for a halt to mink farm proposals in those communities.

With Frances Willick, staff reporter

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